Κυριακή, 23 Αυγούστου 2015

What do we mean by “Fathers of the Church”?

“Fathers and Teachers of
the Church” (or, in brief, simply “Fathers of the Church”) is
the title used to denote Christian priests of all ranks [1]
(but also some who were not priests), who have been acknowledged
as spiritual teachers and have also been acknowledged as authors
for their formulation, their definition of the boundaries of,
and the defending of, the Christian dogma. [2]

According to Western
scholasticism (i.e., the philosophical theology that developed
in western Europe following the Schism of 1054 and up until its
apex during the Medieval era), the Patristic era ended in the 6th
century A.D. for the Western Church (with the last Western
Father being Saint Isidore of Seville) and in the 8th
century for the Eastern Church (with the last Eastern Father
being Saint John of Damascus). More recent historical and
literary research, which has developed in the West and has
adopted the criteria of scholasticism, has likewise adopted the
idea of separating “Patristic literature” (=the works of the
Fathers up until the 8th
century) from “Byzantine literature” (=the works of Byzantine
authors after the 8th
century).

The Orthodox Church
however regards Her theology as being always Patristic
and only to the extent that it continues to be Patristic,
can it also be considered valid and true. Thus,
the Church discerns carriers of Her Patristic spirit in every
Christian era, from the 2nd
century (=the first century after the generation of Apostles,
with Saints like Clement of Rome, Polycarp of Smyrna, Ignatius
of Antioch the “God-bearer”, e.a..), through to the late
Byzantine era (for example, Saints Gregory Palamas 14th
century, Mark of Ephesus 15th
century), but also after the Byzantine era (Saint Nicodemus of
the Holy Mountain 18th
– 19th
century, the Russian Saints of the 19th
century: Ignatius Branchianinov and Theophanes the Recluse,
Innocent Beniaminov, e.a.), while even in our times there also
appear to be several authentic carriers of the Patristic spirit
of ecclesiastic theology – some of whom have been recognized
officially as Saints (for example Saint Nectarios of Pentapolis,
Luke the Physician of Symferoupolis, John of Shanghai (Maximovitch),
Nicholas of Ohrid (Velimirovitch), e.a.), while others, albeit
not “officially” recognized through an ecclesiastic “decision”
of any kind, are nevertheless recognized in practice; for
example holy teachers such as Justin Popovic, Sophrony Sacharov,
Filotheos Zervakos, e.a..

The Church’s persistence with Patricity in
Her theology is attributed to the fact that She regards the
Fathers as saints; that is to say, as individuals with an
authentic (in the Christian sense) association with uncreated
(=divine) reality, and as such, reliable expressers of Her
dogmatic teachings, whose validity also includes the element of
being “divinely inspired”. The Christian dogma is expressed by
means of the “enlightenment of the Holy Spirit” (in other words,
through God Himself), and not by means of intellectual
cogitations. And this is the determinant difference between
philosophy and theology.

Of course, for the Church
this difference does not lie in “appealing to a Holy-Spiritual
enlightenment” – that is, to a “religious authority” – but to
the actual existence of this transcendental element;
otherwise, if in both cases we were to have ontological and
soteriological systems, fashioned by human intellectual
processes that merely invoked a certain contact with the divine
Beyond for reasons of prestige, then in essence, there would be
no objective difference between philosophy and theology [3].

It should be noted that the Patristic opus
does not end with the definition of boundaries of the Christian
dogma; it also extends into a multitude of issues that involve
the examination of human nature - and especially the soul - as
well as Man’s relationship with himself, his fellow-man, the
world and God – in other words, it deals with the healing of the
consequences of Man’s Fall, for each individual, for mankind,
and for Creation overall. The Patristic opus also continues its
ceaseless dialogue with Philosophy and Science as they appear in
every era. In this context, it makes sense to examine Patristic
essays from the philosophical aspect also, inasmuch as they
comprise one of the most fruitful chapters of worldwide thought.
Unfortunately, the science of Philosophy’s History is ignorant
of their contribution, although in recent times, with the
endeavours of Greek researchers such as K.D.Georgoulis, Vasilios
Tatakis, Bishop John Zizioulas of Pergamon, Christos Yannaras,
fr. Nicholas Loudovikos e.a., their contribution is now being
brought to light.

«An orthodox mind will
stand at the point where all roads meet. He will carefully
examine each road and, from his uniquely advantageous position,
he will observe the conditions, the dangers, the uses and
finally, the destination of each road. He will examine each road
from the Patristic point of view, given that his personal
convictions will come into a real, not hypothetical, contact
with the culture around him» (Ivan Kiriyevski, Orthodox
Russian author; quoted from the book by fr. Seraphim Rose "Orthodoxy and the religion of the future).

The Fathers of the ancient
Church possess in their arsenal the entirety of Hellenic
philosophy; after all, they too are philosophers. The only
difference is that they are not concerned with “interpreting the
world” or describing the laws of nature and their functions
(alas, for our contemporary, materialistic sciences), but
instead, they focus on theosis (deification), which they
consider an imperative prerequisite for a complete knowledge of
the world – in other words, our association with the world. (Of
course, to modern science this seems meaningless, because it is
a conquering, not a loving science. How can you love that which
you seek to conquer? Our entire civilization – the western kind,
which has now been imposed worldwide – is a conquering kind.
Even the major navigators-“explorers” were followed by invading
conquistadors, while the exploration of space is commonly
referred to as “the conquest of outer space”).

It should be noted that Basil the Great’s
“Hexaemeron” for example, as well as Saint Gregory of Nyssa’s
“On the making of Man”, which is the continuation of the “Hexaemeron”,
also summarize the scientific knowledge of their time. Saint
Gregory specifically uses references to physiology, medicine,
psychology, and also makes mention of dreams etc. And yet they
all interpret in the most rational manner, rejecting astrology
and any other irrational forms of religiosity.

Let us keep in mind that prior to its illicit
Medieval distortion Christianity represented logic and progress,
whereas idolatry represented irrationalism. Immediately upon its
founding, the Church had openly opposed the superstition of the
roman world, regarding it to be something irrational: astrology,
star-worship, angel-worship, sorcery, divination, submission to
fate…

Are the Fathers
infallible?

We need to mention here
that the Fathers of the Church, albeit saints, are not
considered infallible. However, it is in them that
the words of the Lord are realized: “blessed are the pure in
heart, for they shall see God” (John 6:45), therefore their
opinion is far more valid than any “scientist” theologian’s
(mine, for example) who is not pure in heart. A valid
interpreter of this kind (a saint) can quite easily be a humble
and illiterate person (man or woman or even child), if their
heart is pure enough. The “grand mystery of piety” (1
Tim.3:16) becomes palpable through catharsis of the heart, and
not through logic. The heart is not the place of sentiments; it
is where the Holy Spirit comes to reside (if the heart is pure),
or the evil spirit (God forbid!) if the heart is filled with
passions (Gal 4:6, Luke 22:3).

Even though I may not
possess a perfect knowledge of Patristic literature and what is
more, I am by no means a saint (so that I can speak validly
about the saints), I do venture to say the following: There have
been certain Fathers who, within the sum of their important
writings, have also supported certain teachings that according
to Orthodox theology were wrong. The most characteristic example
is saint Augustine. Thus, it is
advisable to read the holy Fathers within the context of the
overall teaching of the Church and to not absolutize the
viewpoints of one or two of them. We accept something as valid,
when it is supported by the sum of the saints of the Church,
even if one or two Fathers happen to have another viewpoint.
[For an analysis of this problem, see the book by fr. Seraphim
Rose (whom I dare to call an American contemporary Father of the
Church), “The soul after death – Posthumous experiences in the
light of Orthodox teaching”, Myriobiblos Publications]

Some of the Fathers

We could briefly list here a number of
Fathers of the Church who come to mind:

A particular group of
Fathers of the Church is one that pertains to those who did not
leave any written works behind them, but had contributed towards
the formulation of Orthodox theology, through their
participation in local Synods, and especially in Ecumenical
ones; such were the major saints of the 1st
Ecumenical Synod, Spyridon and Nicholas. The Fathers of
Ecumenical Synods are generally honoured “en masse” as
saints, given that it was NOT on the basis of political
interests and imperial directions that they formulated the terms
and the teachings of the Synods, but through the enlightenment
of the Holy Spirit.

Then there are the
Neptic Fathers (that is, the teachers of “nepsis” – the
Orthodox “science of ascetic living” – although all the Fathers
are also neptic): Macarius the Egyptian (4th
century, Cassian the Roman, Benedict of Noursia, Diadochus of
Fotiki, John of Sinai (author of the ‘Ladder’, 6th
century), Symeon the New Theologian (10th
– 11th
centuries), Gregory of Sinai, Niketas Stethatos (11th
century, Nicholas Kavasilas, Nicephoros the Recluse, etc… (refer
to the monumental works “Philokalia of the sacred Neptics”,
which the holy Fathers Makarius Notaras and Nicodemus of the
Holy Mountain had composed during the Turkish occupation and the
Russian Father Paisius Velitkovsky had translated into Russian).

Another particular group
of Fathers of the Church are the Hymnography Fathers: for
example, saints Romanos the Melodist (the Salutations to the
Theotokos e.a. and especially numerous other kontakia), Ephraim
the Syrian (in Syrian), Andrew of Crete (the “Major Canon”),
John of Damascus (the canon for the night of Easter e.a.),
Kosmas the Melodist (the Canon for Christmas e.a.), Joseph the
Hymnographer (innumerable canons), Theophanes and Theodore the
Branded (they are called thus, because their foreheads were
branded with a red-hot iron during the Iconomachy period),
Theodore the Studite, Cassiane the Hymnographer (the “troparion
of Cassiane” – glorification hymn chanted on Tuesday of Easter
Week, also a section of the canon of Good Friday, e.a.) and many
others. A contemporary hymnographer-Father was the blessed elder
Gerasimos of the Holy Mountain, from the Minor Scete of Saint
Anne).

There are also the
Fathers of the Desert, who are hermits and monks. Some of them we
have already mentioned[see The holy anarchists... in the Egyptian Desert].Let us note a few more.
It should be noted that most of them
were simplemonks, without any ecclesiastic “rank”
– not even priests. Furthermore, many of them did not leave any
written texts; however, their verbal teachings as well as their
way of life (which was quite possibly even more important than
their words) have been recorded by other Fathers in collective
works such as the “Lausaikon” by saint Palladius of Helenoupolis,
the “Leimonarion” by saint John Moschou, the “Patristic Maxims”,
etc…

Older Fathers:
Anthony the Great (the «professor of the desert»), Pachum the
Great, Sisoe the Great, Poemen the Great, Arsenius the Great,
Pafnut the Great, Nilus, Daniel of the Scete, Pitirum, Zosimas,
John the Persian, Ammonius, John Kolovos, Theodore of Ferme,
Abraham the Iberian, Moses the Ethiopian «of the robbers» (=a
former robber), Sarmatas, Pambo, Biare, Onupher the Egyptian,
Pior, Apfy, Mark the Athenian, Theodosios, Head of the
Coenobium, and many others.

Recent
Fathers:

Russian: Serge of
Radonez, Seraphim of Sarov («find peace, and thousands of people
will find peace alongside you»), Agapetos the Healer, Alexander
of Svir, Cyril of the White Lake, Nicodemus of Lake Koza, John
“of many feats”, Job of Potsaev, Nilus of Sorsky, the Elders of
Optina (Anatolios, Joseph, Ambrose, Moses, Varsanuf, Nectarios,
e.a.), Seraphim of Viritsa and many others (for these, see works
such as the “Paterikon of the Caves of Kiev”, “The Thebais of
the North” e.a.)

Aside from the Fathers, there are also the
holy Mothers of the Church, who belong mainly to the last
mentioned group, i.e. of the teachers who did not write anything
themselves but whose way of life and words were recorded and
handed down to us by others. Among the hundreds of major
women-teachers of Orthodoxy were the following:

The holy, great martyr
Saint Ekaterina who, despite having been imprisoned for her
faith, brought 150 idolatrous philosophers to Christianity,
as well as 500 soldiers along with their commander (all of
them were executed and are saints of our Church).

Saint Makrina,
grandmother of Saint Basil the Great and Saint Gregory of
Nyssa,

Hergrand-daughter,
alsoMakrinatheSaint,
the “theologian,
teacherandphilosopher”
(according to Saint Gregory of
Nyssa), who had convinced her
mother saint Emmelia, to give equal rights to her maids and
servants and to eventually give them their freedom.

Saint Maria the
Egyptian. A rich young womanwho lived her life as a
prostitute, for the pleasure and not for the money. On a
pilgrimage trip to Jerusalem, she seduced the men who were
travelling on the same ship. But when she arrived there, an
invisible force obstructed her from going near the Precious
Cross to worship. Crushed with the realization of her sins,
she immediately departed for the depths of the desert taking
only some bread with her and she remained there, until she
was revealed in a divine vision to saint Zosimas, who found
her in the desert, brought Holy Communion to her on his next
visit to the desert, and a year later, he returned to find
her lifeless body in the desert (still intact) and with the
help of a lion, dug a grave and buried her there.

Saint Melane,
who, together with her husband, distributed her fortune in
order to free captives, and ended up being the spiritual
mother to the monastic sisterhood that the first Saint
Melane – her grandmother - had founded in Jerusalem

SaintIrene“Chrysovalantou”,
who was seen to hover above the
ground whenever she was in prayer and cypress trees would
also lower their branches whenever she passed by them.

Saint Matrona
of Chiopolis, who lived on the island of Chios in the 15th
century and performed innumerable miracles, both while alive
as well as after her repose

The equally important
ascetic saints, Syncletiki, Anastasia the
former patrician (she lived inside a cave that only Saint
Daniel of the Scete knew, in the 6th
century), Theoktiste of Lesvos island,
Sarrah and Theodora,
Genevieve of Paris, Ursula of Germany,
Gulinduch the Persian (Maria when baptized)

Thegreatsaintsofphilanthropy,
FilotheitheAthenian
(1589) andElizabeththeGrandDuchessofRussia
(1918), who spent all their
fortune to build hospitals and philanthropic institutions
and finally gave their very life-blood (the former was put
to death by Turks and the latter by Communists)

The saints of Russia
Dorothea and Anna of Kasin, Paraskeve
of Pinega, Athanasia Logacheva, the “fools for
Christ” saints Pelagia Ivanovna, Xeni of
Petroupolis, and many others

1The ‘ranks’ of Christian
priesthood are three: Deacon, Presbyter and Bishop.
Albeit most of the Fathers of the Church bore the rank of
Bishop, there have been Fathers with only the rank of Deacon (e.g.
Ephraim the Syrian –he wrote in
Syrian- and of Presbyter (e.g. John of Damascus) or even
ordinary monks.

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